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Churches and lodges

Chapel of the Cross

In Chapel Hill. 21 dated events, 1842–2002.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

People in its history

Indexed works

Books, articles, records and pictures in the index about Chapel of the Cross, found by its names in titles, catalog subjects and the index’s descriptions, and read one by one. Those held at OCPL come first.

About the site

The Church of the Atonement and the Chapel of the Cross at Chapel Hill

Henderson, Archibald · 1938

Archibald Henderson's history of the Episcopal congregation in Chapel Hill, the Church of the Atonement and the Chapel of the Cross, as the title names them. A short work of Chapel Hill church history and of the Episcopal Church in North Carolina, published in Hartford, Connecticut, by the Church Missions Publishing Company in 1938, 57 pages with illustrations and portraits. One copy carries the author's presentation inscription to the North Carolina State Library.

The first parish register of the Chapel of the Cross (1842-1881)

2024 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Transcription of the first register kept by Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, with its entries from 1842 to 1881. Published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 2024 with an introduction and a bibliography, 142 pages with illustrations and portraits.

Chapel of the Cross : calendar 1996.

1996 · Chapel of the Cross

Wall calendar for 1996 made by two Chapel of the Cross choristers, Jane Hamborsky and Margaret Middleton, who photographed architectural details of the Gothic Revival church in Chapel Hill. Thomas U. Walter designed the chapel, which went up from 1843 to 1848. Black-and-white photographs, from the Images of North Carolina collection.

The word of love : preaching in the ministry of Stephen Elkins-Williams

Elkins-Williams, Stephen, 1944- · 2015 · iUniverse

Sermons preached by Stephen Elkins-Williams during his ministry at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, collected in 329 pages and published by iUniverse in 2015. Bishop Michael B. Curry and the Reverend Tambria Elizabeth Lee contributed forewords. Illustrations accompany the text.

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Proud shoes to put on : a sermon

Jefferts Schori, Katharine · 2007 · Chapel of the Cross

Katharine Jefferts Schori preached this sermon at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill on February 8, 2007, at the celebration marking thirty years since Pauli Murray's first Eucharist. The parish printed it on a single folded sheet of six pages with a portrait. Topics include Murray, who lived from 1910 to 1985, and African American women clergy in North Carolina.

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A celebration of 250 years of Anglican and Episcopal witness in Orange County : September 19 to 21, 2003

2003

A booklet from a three-day celebration, September 19 to 21, 2003, marking 250 years of Anglican and Episcopal presence in Orange County, North Carolina. A note summarizes its contents as the history of four congregations: St. Matthew's Church and St. Mary's Chapel in Hillsborough, and the Chapel of the Cross and the Church of the Holy Family in Chapel Hill. Sixteen unnumbered pages.

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Show 17 more works

Charles Kuralt : Pauli Murray.

2002

An eleven minute videocassette carrying Charles Kuralt's television piece on Pauli Murray, drawn from his On the Road series and dated 2002. It concerns African American biography, the Episcopal Church and the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill. Kuralt lived from 1934 to 1997.

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Chapel of the Cross : a witness to the presence of God.

1998 · The Matrix of Belonging Family Video Documentaries

Documentary on videocassette about the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill, produced in 1998 by the Matrix of Belonging Family Video Documentaries. Thirty four minutes with sound, in color and black and white.

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St. Paul AME Church & the Chapel of the Cross.

1998 · Chapel of the Cross?

Two videodiscs, running about 222 minutes in all, recording a 1998 program that brought together St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill. The program, Faith on Franklin Street, marked anniversaries of both congregations and concerned African American churches and church buildings in Chapel Hill.

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Chapel Hill's oldest church-- : the story of its buildings

Stoudemire, Mary Arthur · 1981

Paper that Mary Arthur Stoudemire read to the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Churchwomen in February 1981 on the buildings of the oldest church in Chapel Hill. Eleven pages. An architectural account of a parish told through the structures it put up in succession.

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The Chapel of the Cross : an architectural history

Rees, Philip A. · 1979

Philip A. Rees traced the architectural history of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill in this 1979 study of 71 pages with seventeen leaves of plates, illustrations and plans. The study examines its Gothic revival architecture, and a bibliography occupies leaves 65 to 69. Useful to anyone working on church architecture in the town.

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The order of service for the dedication of the new wing of the parish house of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, North Carolina : to the glory of God and in memory of David Watt Yates, Sunday, April 21st., A.D. 1968, 4:30 p.m.

1968 · Chapel of the Cross

The printed order of service for the dedication of the new wing of the Chapel of the Cross parish house in Chapel Hill on Sunday, April 21, 1968. Eleven pages set in red and black carry the liturgy for that afternoon, which honored the memory of David Watt Yates, who died in 1967. Subjects include both the parish and Yates himself.

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Historic buildings of North Carolina : the Chapel of the Cross, 1848.

Elliott, Cecil D. · 1959 · Published for the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects by Key Publications

Cecil D. Elliott's two page treatment of the Chapel of the Cross of 1848 for a series on historic buildings of North Carolina, detached from Southern Architect for October 1959. Illustrations and plans accompany the text, and the article concerns Gothic revival architecture in Chapel Hill along with Episcopal church history in the state.

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Special Service Held in the New Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on the Third Sunday After Easter, May 8, 1949

1949

Order of service for an observance at the new Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill on May 8, 1949, the third Sunday after Easter. A commemorative program associated with the Episcopal parish's anniversary celebrations.

Story of the Chapel of the Cross

Nast, Jacqueline Ann · 1973

Jacqueline Ann Nast wrote this 1973 typescript on the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill as a paper for an American architecture seminar taught by John Allcott at the University of North Carolina. It includes a history of the Episcopal Church in the town, plates, plans and a bibliography, and sits in the North Carolina Collection at UNC. The paper concerns the building's Gothic revival architecture.

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Rebecca Drane Warren papers, 1967-2004.

Warren, Rebecca Drane · 1967

Four hundred items in one linear foot make up the Rebecca Drane Warren papers, 1967 to 2004, collection 5273 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. Warren was a North Carolina genealogist and historian. The papers concern the Ackland Art Museum, the Chapel of the Cross, Cherry Hill and its historical foundation, and figures including Reynolds Price and the painter Francis Speight.

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Charles Milton Shaffer papers, 1937-1980s.

Shaffer, Charles Milton, 1913-2004 · 1937

Charles Milton Shaffer (1913-2004) left about 5,000 items in nine linear feet, dated 1937 into the 1980s, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4816. Photographs are noted. Topics include the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, judges and the state Supreme Court, educational fund raising, and football and employees at the university. John Wallace Winborne is named.

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Alfred S. Lawrence papers, 1914-1944.

Lawrence, Alfred S. (Alfred Stratton), 1882-1958 · 1914

Papers of Alfred Stratton Lawrence, 1882 to 1958, spanning 1914 to 1944, about 250 items in half a linear foot, collection 4350 in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC. The papers concern Episcopal clergy in North Carolina, including material on the Chapel of the Cross, the Chapel Hill School of Religion, the Diocese of North Carolina, Joseph Blount Cheshire and Elwood Haines.

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Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)

The Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal church on East Franklin Street, in its own publications, newspaper clippings, photocopied articles and a report with notes. Churches series, Chapel Hill Historical Society Vertical File Collection (CHHS.001). Undated.

Chapel of the Cross; retired rector: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Family of a retired rector of the Chapel of the Cross, posed on porch steps, with their names written on the back. Undated. From the churches series of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

Chapel of the Cross: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Eighteen undated photographs of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal church on East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Views include the church in snow, behind a fence and from the rear. From the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection.

The Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Wootten, Bayard Morgan, 1875-1959 · Graycraft Card Co., Danville, Va

A view of the Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill, from a photograph credited to Bayard Morgan Wootten (1875 to 1959) and printed by the Graycraft Card Company of Danville, Virginia.

The Chapel of the Cross, Episcopal Church, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sutton & Alderman, Druggists, Chapel Hill, N.C

Sutton and Alderman of Chapel Hill published this postcard of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal church in the town.

Published by or for it

At the crossroads on the hill : a pageant celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the parish of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Holmes, Urban T., Jr., 1900-1972 · 1942 · Chapel of the Cross

Urban T. Holmes Jr. wrote this pageant for the hundredth anniversary of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the university campus in Chapel Hill, founded in 1842. Historical drama about Chapel Hill's past, staged as a parish pageant, it was printed by the church in 1942, 48 pages with an illustration. Holmes, a professor at the university, framed the town's story around the crossroads site of the title.

Year book of The Chapel of the Cross.

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1974 · Chapel of the Cross

Yearbooks of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, including parish registers, with 1974 among the years recorded. Volumes in this series set out the officers, committees and membership of the Episcopal congregation for a given year.

Enlargement of the Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1921

Three illustrated pages printed by the Chapel of the Cross in 1921 on the enlargement of its building, dated July 20 of that year on the final page. The Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill used the leaflet to set out the project.

The history and architecture of the Chapel of the Cross

2024 · Chapel of the Cross

A 2024 booklet from the Chapel of the Cross setting out the history and architecture of the Episcopal church in Chapel Hill. Nineteen pages carry color illustrations, a color plan of the building and a color portrait, and the latest date mentioned in the text is 2023. Topics include church buildings in Chapel Hill and Episcopal church history in North Carolina.

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Chapel of the Cross : 1990 annual report ; by-laws ; 1991 director[y] of parishioners.

1991 · Chapel of the Cross

One volume gathering the 1990 annual report of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill, together with its by-laws and a 1991 list of parishioners. Report, rules and roster in a single binding show how the parish was governed and who belonged to it. Topics include the Episcopal Church in North Carolina and Chapel Hill church history.

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In praise of Christ's Nativity : music for Advent and Christmas from the Chapel of the Cross

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1983 · Chapel of the Cross

A 1983 recording of Advent and Christmas music sung at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, issued by the parish on a ten inch mono disc playing at 33 1/3 rpm. Includes sacred choruses for mixed voices, some unaccompanied, others with organ or with instrumental ensemble, and the texts of the pieces are printed on the slipcase and an insert.

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Show 17 more of its own publications

Remember-- proclaim-- serve-- : a development program for the Chapel of the Cross for the 1980's and beyond

1979 · Chapel of the Cross

A 1979 development brochure for the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, setting out a program for the 1980s and beyond. 12 unnumbered pages with illustrations, some in color, portraits and plans.

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[Annual reports of the Chapel of the Cross, 1962].

1963 · Chapel of the Cross

Annual reports of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill covering church activities during 1962 and prepared in 1963. One volume with various pagings.

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Twenty-third trinity, 1963 : a sermon

Thrasher, Thomas R. · 1963 · Chapel of the Cross

Sermon preached by Thomas R. Thrasher at the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal church in Chapel Hill, on the twenty-third Sunday after Trinity in 1963, privately printed for members with the rector's permission and the vestry's approval. One folded sheet of three unnumbered pages.

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Information bulletin. Number three

1960 · Chapel of the Cross

Third in a series of information bulletins issued by the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the university campus in Chapel Hill, dated February 18, 1960. It concerns the parish's history and its rector, Thomas R. Thrasher. A slim item of a few pages and one unnumbered leaf.

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The Chapel of the Cross : parish house addition and renovation.

1957 · Chapel of the Cross

Issued by the Chapel of the Cross in 1957, twelve unnumbered pages presenting the addition to and renovation of the parish house in Chapel Hill. Illustrations, a portrait and architectural plans accompany the text. A small but specific source for the building history of the Episcopal congregation in the town.

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"Our appointed task : for others, for ourselves."

1955 · Chapel of the Cross

Illustrated pamphlet about the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the university campus in Chapel Hill, issued by the parish in 1955. Ten unnumbered pages with illustrations, a portrait and a plan, 23 by 28 cm.

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Handbook, 1940

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1940 · Chapel of the Cross

The 1940 handbook of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the university campus in Chapel Hill. Ten unnumbered leaves in a small oblong format, it includes a history of the church, information on parish activities and the budget for the year.

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Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1895 · Chapel of the Cross

A single printed sheet issued in 1895 by the Chapel of the Cross, an Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill. Measures 21 by 14 centimeters.

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Biddings & bindings.

Episcopal Campus Ministry at Carolina, Chapel of the Cross

A periodical of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Carolina, published through the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill and described on the piece itself as words of the university community at the chapel on the hill. The volumes measure 28 to 36 centimeters.

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The cross roads.

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · The Chapel of the Cross

The parish paper of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal congregation in Chapel Hill, preserved in volumes of 23 centimeters. It concerns the Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill, and a run of a parish serial of this sort serves anyone following the congregation and its members year by year.

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[Directory]

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · The Church

Directories issued over the years by the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill. Each volume lists the congregation and carries illustrations and portraits, so the run gives the names, and often the faces, of parish members across several decades.

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Episcopal campus news.

Episcopal Campus Ministry at Carolina, Chapel of the Cross

The newsletter of the Episcopal Campus Ministry at Carolina, issued through the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill in volumes measuring 28 to 36 centimeters. It carried news of the ministry to students at the university. A companion to the campus ministry's other serial titles.

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[Miscellaneous brochures, reports, sermons, etc.]

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · Chapel of the Cross

A portfolio of loose material from the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, gathering brochures, reports, sermons and similar printed pieces issued by the Episcopal parish. The items vary in size up to 38 centimeters.

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Yearbook

Episocpal Churchwomen, Chapel of the Cross · The Churchwomen

Yearbooks of the Episcopal Churchwomen at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, issued by the group itself in volumes of 28 centimeters. Each number includes a directory of members, so the run names the women who organized parish work in the town across successive years.

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The Kanterburian.

University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Canterbury Club · 1974 · Canterbury Club, UNC Chapel Hill

The Canterbury Club at the University of North Carolina published The Kanterburian for Episcopal students at Chapel Hill, beginning in 1974. The serial concerns the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the campus, and Episcopalians in Chapel Hill. Volumes of 22 cm with illustrations, printed in Chapel Hill.

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The Tar Heel churchman

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.). Student Vestry · 1971 · Student Vestry, Chapel of the Cross

A periodical issued in 1971 by the Student Vestry of the Chapel of the Cross, the Episcopal parish beside the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. The work deals with Episcopal Church periodicals and with the religious life of university students, so the run records campus church work and student religious organization rather than the history of the parish itself.

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Chapel of the Cross records, 1895-1897; 1913-1979.

Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, N.C.) · 1895

Parish records of the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, covering 1895 to 1897 and 1913 to 1979, about 180 items in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 2141-z. Topics include Episcopal church history in North Carolina, church architecture, and the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, with Chapel Hill church history as the local tie.

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Surveys and maps of the area

Not about Chapel of the Cross alone: the architectural surveys that cover its town or the county, and maps drawn while it stood. Several of the surveys can be read free online at NC Digital Collections.

Churches in Orange County, North Carolina, South of Interstate 85 from 1756 to 2000

Johnson, George Arthur · 2000

George Arthur Johnson surveys the churches of southern Orange County, the part of the county south of Interstate 85 that takes in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, from 1756 to 2000. The volume also includes his talk to the Chapel Hill Historical Society on March 4, 1996, on the university, the churches and the Jews of Chapel Hill. Published by the society in 2000, 144 pages plus lettered pages A to F.

The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina: 1795-1975

Little-Stokes, Margaret Ruth · 2006

Margaret Ruth Little-Stokes's survey of Chapel Hill's town and campus buildings from 1795 to 1975, published by the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill in 2006. Chapters run from the first campus buildings through David Swain's romantic campus to midcentury modernism, followed by area surveys of the campus, east and west Chapel Hill, downtown, Northside and the suburbs.

The town and gown architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975

Little, M. Ruth · 2004 · Preservation Society of Chapel Hill

M. Ruth Little's 2004 architectural history of Chapel Hill and the university campus from 1795 to 1975, written for the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. A 99-page survey with a bibliography.

Chapel Hill historic sites survey : final report.

Gatza, M. B. · 1992 · Chapel Hill Planning Department

M. B. Gatza's final report of the 1992 Chapel Hill historic sites survey for the town Planning Department, with contributions by Beverly C. Kawalec and Catherine Bishir. It covers historic buildings and districts in Chapel Hill in 80 pages.

Chapel Hill township survey final report

Lally, Kelly A. · 1992

Kelly A. Lally's October 1992 final report on the architectural survey of Chapel Hill township, including Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Besides the report and a bibliography, most of its 56 pages form an annotated index of the historic buildings surveyed.

When Chapel Hill was a village

Love, Cornelia Spencer, 1892-1981 · 1976 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Cornelia Spencer Love's recollections of Chapel Hill as a village, published by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1976 with drawings by John V. Allcott. Love lived from 1892 to 1981, and the book covers Chapel Hill biography, the town's social life and customs, and the faculty of the university before 1962. viii and 87 pages with illustrations.

Show 5 more surveys and maps

Occupants and Structures of Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, North Carolina at 5-Year Intervals, 1793-1998

Bryant, Bernard Lee · 1999 · Chapel Hill Historical Society

Bernard Lee Bryant's compilation of who occupied each structure on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill at five-year intervals from 1793 to 1998, issued by the Chapel Hill Historical Society in 1999 as a photocopy of his original computer printout on cotton paper. 191 leaves.

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Map of Chapel Hill as it was in 1875 to 1885

Carter, H. D. (Henry Dennis), -1941 · 1934

Henry Dennis Carter's reconstruction, drawn as a blueprint in 1934, of Chapel Hill as it stood between 1875 and 1885, showing the buildings of the village. A note on the map says the information came from old residents who gave it to Mary L. Thornton.

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[Map of Chapel Hill and vicinity].

Harris, Hunter Lee, 1866-1893 · 1888 · Hunter Lee Harris?

Dating from 1888 and attributed to Hunter Lee Harris, a map of Chapel Hill and its vicinity, reproduced as a photocopy measuring 22 by 37 centimeters. Harris died in 1893, which brackets the drawing to the late nineteenth century. An early depiction of the streets of the village and the land around it.

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[Map of Chapel Hill].

1895

Pen-and-ink manuscript map of Chapel Hill dated 1852, with a table of measurements, showing the University campus, the village around it, street widths and layout, and the town limits. Later notes attributed to Kemp P. Battle give the longitude and latitude of landmarks as measured from atop New East Hall in 1880.

Map of Chapel Hill & vicinity.

1933

Street and property map of Chapel Hill and the surrounding country, revised to 1 January 1933 and printed in the town. Topics include streets, real property and the historical geography of Chapel Hill along with maps of the University of North Carolina in its 1793 to 1962 period. A useful sheet for tracing lot lines and street names as they stood at the start of the 1930s.

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Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Start at OCPL

    Where to look on the shelf

    These books don’t necessarily mention Chapel of the Cross, but they cover where it stands, its kind of building and the land, family and burial records behind it, and they are where a search for a place like this usually goes next. All are at OCPL, most in the Wall Collection.

    Histories of the town and county

    • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 975.656 STO Chapel Hill: A Pictorial History Stolpen, Steven · 1978

      Steven Stolpen's pictorial history of Chapel Hill, one of the Donning Company's photographic town histories, published in Norfolk, Virginia in 1978. Photographs and portraits carry the story of the town and the university, including references to Thomas Wolfe's years as a student at Carolina. 156 pages with illustrations.

    • Foundational · 975.656 RYAN Orange County Trio: Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro, North Carolina, Histories and Tour Guides Ryan, Elizabeth Shreve · 2004

      Elizabeth Shreve Ryan's combined histories and tour guides for Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro, the three towns of Orange County, with the University of North Carolina treated alongside Chapel Hill. Each town gets a narrative history and a tour of its streets and buildings. Published by Chapel Hill Press in 2004, 369 pages with illustrations and maps.

    Buildings and surveys

    • Foundational · NC 720.975 BIS A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Piedmont North Carolina Bishir, Catherine W. · 2003

      Catherine W. Bishir and Michael T. Southern's field guide to the historic buildings of the North Carolina Piedmont, arranged county by county from Wake and Franklin in the east to Mecklenburg and Gaston in the west. The Orange County section takes in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill and Carrboro along with the rural county, with entries on individual buildings and maps for finding them. Published 2003, 596 pages with illustrations and maps.

    • Foundational · NC 917.56 HIS Historic Buildings and Landmarks of Chapel Hill, N.C Chapel Hill Historical Society · 1973

      A pocket-sized guide to the historic buildings and landmarks of Chapel Hill, prepared by the Chapel Hill Historical Society and printed by Creative Printers in 1973. Forty pages with illustrations and maps, 14 by 22 cm. Topics include architecture, historic buildings and historic districts in Chapel Hill, and the guide is useful for a walking tour of the older parts of town.

    Land, family and burial records

    • Foundational · NC 333.3 DUNAWAY Chapel Hill, N.C. History of Town Lots (1790-1930s) Dunaway, Stewart E. · 2014

      Deed transcripts for the town lots of Chapel Hill and adjoining land from 1790 to the 1930s, compiled by Stewart E. Dunaway. Each transcript keeps only the working facts: grantor and grantee, price, acreage and the metes and bounds of the parcel. Self-published in 2014 as Issue 1G, 702 pages with maps and facsimiles.

    In the chronology

    1. Chapel Hill Episcopalians buy a church lot from the university William Mercer Green told the 1842 diocesan convention that the new Chapel Hill congregation, then fifteen communicants, had bought a lot from the university for its church and had let a contract for part of the building materials. People: William Mercer Green
    2. William Mercer Green organizes an Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill In May 1842 William Mercer Green presided over the organization of the Church of the Atonement, an Episcopal parish in Chapel Hill with fifteen communicants, which met in members' homes for five years while its church was built. A record of subscribers for building the church, dated 1843, survives in Green's papers.
    3. The Episcopal parish begins building the Chapel of the Cross on East Franklin Street A year after organizing, Chapel Hill's Episcopal parish started work in 1843 on its Gothic Revival chapel at 302 East Franklin Street, designed by the architect Thomas U. Walter. The building took until 1848 to finish.
    4. Swain reports the Chapel of the Cross walls up to a plan by Thomas U. Walter Writing to Charles Manly, university president David L. Swain noted that the Episcopalians had raised the brick walls of their church and that it was planned by Walter of Philadelphia. The nomination treats this letter as the main evidence that architect Thomas U. Walter designed the chapel, which had long been credited to Richard Upjohn.
    5. The Chapel of the Cross is consecrated Bishop Levi Silliman Ives consecrated the Episcopal church at Chapel Hill as the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Designed by Thomas U. Walter for the parish William Mercer Green organized in 1842, it was built of bricks fired by enslaved people at kilns on Green's farm and included a wooden gallery for enslaved worshippers. People: William Mercer Green
    6. Bodies of Junius and Wesley Lewis Battle brought home for burial The bodies of Corporal Junius C. Battle, mortally wounded at South Mountain, and Lieutenant Wesley Lewis Battle, killed at Gettysburg, sons of Judge William H. Battle and former students, were brought home to Chapel Hill. The village turned out to meet them, and they lay side by side in the Episcopal church before burial. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, William Horn Battle
    7. Joseph Blount Cheshire is assigned to the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill Ordered deacon at Tarboro on 21 April 1878, Cheshire was assigned by Bishop Thomas Atkinson to the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill at the request of university president Kemp P. Battle. He served his diaconate there under Robert Sutton, rector of the Pittsboro parish. People: Kemp Plummer Battle
    8. Joseph Blount Cheshire is ordained priest two years after coming to Chapel Hill Cheshire was ordained priest on 30 May 1880 by Bishop Theodore B. Lyman in St. Paul's Church, Winston, two years after going to Chapel Hill. While based at the Chapel of the Cross he also organized a mission at Durham and built a church there named for St. Philip the Deacon.
    9. Joseph Blount Cheshire leaves Chapel Hill to become rector at Charlotte In the spring of 1881 Cheshire accepted a call to St. Peter's Church in Charlotte, ending about three years at the Chapel of the Cross. He was elected bishop of North Carolina in 1893.
    10. A carved eagle lectern at the Chapel of the Cross memorializes Mary Ruffin Smith A lectern topped by a carved wooden eagle was placed in the Chapel of the Cross nave in memory of Mary Ruffin Smith, with an inscription on its base dated 1888.
    11. The Chapel of the Cross adds a chancel and vestry A chancel and a vestry room were built onto the rear of the 1848 Chapel of the Cross, replacing its original back wall. The vestry kept its corner fireplace, paneled wainscot and built-in cupboards into the 1970s.
    12. Edward Kidder Graham marries Susan Williams Moses at the Chapel of the Cross Moses, a daughter of school reformer Edward Pearson Moses, had studied at the university from 1898 to 1901 and headed Latin and Greek at Sweet Briar College; the reception was on the porch of Eben Alexander's house next door. The couple lived at Bulrushes, a shingled house at the east edge of the campus that Graham and Louis Graves had built on a lot they bought.
    13. The Chapel of the Cross builds a new rectory and parish house Under its rector, the Rev. Homer Worthington Starr, the Chapel of the Cross parish added a new rectory and a parish house to its East Franklin Street property.
    14. The old Episcopal rectory is said to be cut into sections and moved to North Street Local tradition holds that around 1915 the Episcopal rectory, a two-room house of about 1850 later enlarged into an H shape, was sawn into pieces and moved to North Street, where the parts became the small houses at 408, 410 and 412.
    15. Susan Moses Graham, the president's wife, dies at Chapel Hill Susan Moses Graham, 34, died on the last day of the fall session after six weeks of infection. Remaining classes were called off, and she was buried in the Chapel Hill cemetery on December 23 after a service at the Chapel of the Cross. She had helped found the Chapel Hill Community Club. People: William Dygnum Moss
    16. Under rector Alfred Lawrence, the Chapel of the Cross asks Hobart Upjohn to design a new church The vestry, led by its new rector Alfred Lawrence, asked church architect Hobart B. Upjohn to design a larger building linked to the old chapel by a cloister, after a 1920 diocesan resolution called for enlarging the church to serve the university.
    17. The new Chapel of the Cross church is consecrated The Upjohn building, from then on called the Church, was consecrated during Alfred Lawrence's rectorship. The parish timeline notes that male students in the campus ministry resisted including women students.
    18. Alfred Lawrence publicly opposes fundamentalist attacks on teaching evolution The Chapel of the Cross rector took a public stand against fundamentalist efforts to bar the teaching of evolution in public schools, introducing a diocesan resolution against limits on freedom of thought, teaching and research.
    19. The Chapel of the Cross is listed in the National Register On February 1, 1972 the National Park Service listed the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill in the National Register of Historic Places.
    20. Pauli Murray celebrates her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross Murray, newly ordained an Episcopal priest, celebrated her first Eucharist at the Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill at the invitation of the rector Peter James Lee, who cited her family's connection to the parish. Her grandmother Cornelia Smith Fitzgerald had been baptized in the same chapel on December 20, 1854.
    21. Gladys Coates dies at one hundred Gladys Coates, partner in the founding of the Institute of Government and a student of the University's history, died at a hundred. After a service at the Chapel of the Cross she was buried beside Albert Coates in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, across the road from the School of Government.

    Open these in the chronology →

    Research sources

    Background context 5

    Background from selected state and local sources

    Places to visit 10

    Maps, surveys, and the ground itself

    Show all 10

    Read contemporary evidence 6

    Newspapers, photographs, and records of the time

    Search beyond the index 5

    Other catalogs, databases, and guides worth searching

    Ask locally 6

    Local organizations that preserve the story and can help you go further

    Nearby

    Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
    Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026